Try finding parts for your Jeep made in the USA- No way !

[JeffU]

I try buying US made products whenever possible. I will even pay more for them.
Gave up years ago on clothes. The once strong US textile industry is virtually non existent.

Today here in Atlanta they closed a Ford plant that made Taurus/Sable. The GM plant that makes GM mini vans is also scheduled to close.

That brings me to my Jeep. I used to be able to find US made parts at NAPA. It was there cheapo line parts that were made elsewhere. But their better line parts were mostly still US made. Now you are lucky if the parts are assembled here of foreign or may be (you do not know) US parts.

Today, I replaced my radiator with a NAPA made in China Modine radiator. The new Goodyear serp belt was made in Mexico ( I did not think anyone was left there to make anything) The new Mopar radiator cap also was "Hecho in Mexico". The Bosch water pump is an Airtex assembled here. I checked the Mopar which is the identical Airtex pump , also assembled here. The only part that clearly stated that it was made in the US was the Stant thermostat.


I do not know what Americans are doing for jobs these days but it is clearly not producing auto parts.


Off my soap box. For the moment at least.

[Menzenski]

Seeing as the Cherokee was born out of a relationship between an American company (AMC) and a French company (Renault), I find your rant more than a little humorous.

What year is your XJ? Does it have the French-designed Renix engine management system? Have you swapped it out for an American version? :laugh3:

[JrTxJ]

if you get Crown parts, almost all, as far as i know, are made in U.S.A. but the ones that aren't say so on the box labels.

.02

[JeffU]

Mambeu,
My XJ is a 97. Last I remember it was built in Toledo Ohio. AMC was a US company not owned by Renault. The French build cars about as well as they win wars.

If you are French Mambeu I am sorry . But the only thing the French are good at is surrender.

[JeffU]

JrTxJ,
Not familar with Crown. Who stocks them ?

[GSequoia]

Renault had a significant interest in AMC during the 80's Jeff (although your Jeep is in the Chrysler years). Without Renault the XJ as we know it would not exist. Renault designers helped and Renault supercomputers aided in the design.

If it were done strictly by AMC who knows what it would have ended up as; I'd be willing to bet a body on frame mini SJ.

[Menzenski]

AMC was a US company not owned by Renault.
Not owned entirely by Renault, no, but Renault owned almost a quarter of AMC at one point.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/2245/attachmentjn8.jpg

Also see http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=64497.

[JrTxJ]

JrTxJ,
Not familar with Crown. Who stocks them ?


if you've bought replacement parts for your car before, chances are, some could have been repackaged crown parts as they're the biggest replacement jeep parts distributor out there.

there are crown dealers out there and listed on their site...off the top of my head, the 2 i remember right now are quadratech and rock lizard fabrications. there are tons of others though.

http://www.crownautomotive.net

[Cornflake]

If made in USA products were a superior built product I could see the argument here, but the fact is we've become a lazy nation that does things half-a$$. Why do you think Asian companies came up the way they did, not just cheap labor but the fact that even getting a crappy paycheck by our standards, they have an honor about work ethics that we don't. It shames them to put out crap. These people get paid a tenth of what our fast food employee's make and they give a crap about how something is made. Have you gone into a McD's? The employee's truly care about their product? I guess it's an age thing because at 30 I still find it hard to believe that people get butt hurt about made in the USA. If all you could buy was made in the USA, it would be garbage. Just my .02. Now here comes the flogging :(

[motorcityxj]

the renault guys are right, i thought every jeep enthusiast knew about that era? Not personally convinced the frenchies had a ton to do with the design, more the cash flow needed, some super computers as needed, and a push to unibody or thinking in that direction. Engineering was USA, built in usa by americans in mini detroit/detroit jr town aka toledo. French cars sucked untill not to long ago, they have some half decent rally cars i would drive if given one. Nothing in the 70's or 80s was worth two shits (i was only born in 78 so i may be wrong but i am not aware of anything worth wanting much less washing or maintaining)

heres a good link also talks about some renault era stuff.... like the AMgeneral spin off, 'cause of those pussified terrible scum of europe french and there ilk bought into one of our fine auto companies.

http://www.allpar.com/trucks/jeep/liberty-2008.html


by the way i agree with ya Jeff U . Here in michigan "the heart of the auto industry" and blue collar middle upper middle class lifestyle is dieing. Even here in detroir everyone themselves wants that nice 50-100 grand a year job, AND to shop at wall mart and save an extra 2 grand a year buying throw away chinese and indian shit. They only bitch when they lose a job. So long as the job loss is other people they are fine with it. Michigan economy is dead last in everything we are worse than alaska and louisana .... yeah that bad. After the nov election we will likely in michigan slip into a full on local economic depression for years.

[XgeekstarX]

i seriously don't give a f*ck where my part was made as long as it works.

[Cornflake]

i seriously don't give a f*ck where my part was made as long as it works.

I 2nd that!!!!!

[rock rash]

I do not know what Americans are doing for jobs these days but it is clearly not producing auto parts.


Off my soap box. For the moment at least.
Cheap Labor...why would corporations keep producing parts here when they can do so overseas for less and sell them for the same price...

Good luck going patriotic for much longer...how do you fill you jeep up? US drilled only?

[XgeekstarX]

Cheap Labor...why would corporations keep producing parts here when they can do so overseas for less and sell them for the same price...

Good luck going patriotic for much longer...how do you fill you jeep up? US drilled only?


that's what i'm saying... people who try and keep everything usa made are wasting their time.

[Menzenski]

If you are French Mambeu I am sorry .
Note the 'eu'.

But the only thing the French are good at is surrender.
Don't forget cheese and wine.

[RESET]

As a non-UAW automotive worker, I chime in stating that there are still several thousand of us. Granted most of us work at US plants assembling foreign makes. The big 3 are hurting bad right now. The only thing saving DCX is the new Caliber. I am proud to say that my company and our sister plants make a large percentage of the vehicle content. Pretty soon GM and Ford will have moved out of the US and DCX, Toyota and Nissan will be the new big 3.

[JeffU]

DCX is German. Great PR work by them to let most people believe that C/D/J is still an American company . NO merger it was an acquisition of Chrysler. The headquarters is in Germany. As for the Japanese manufacturers building cars here. It is great that it provides jobs, but the majority of the profits go back to Japan.

For those of you that think that only the labor is cheaper overseas. The quality is not the same. You only have to compare the OEM parts you replace with the foreign replacement. The fit and finish are in most cases inferior. And based on the complaints that I read often on this forum do not hold up. I doubt seriously that I will get 10 years and 150K miles out of my new foreign made replacement parts.

And last, for those of you that do not care about the loss of the manufacturing jobs in the US . You are either too young or naive to understand the implications this has had and will have on the future of this country.

[johnlv6]

If made in USA products were a superior built product I could see the argument here, but the fact is we've become a lazy nation that does things half-a$$.

We are a nation of lazy people. That fact can't be denied. We are also cheap...which is why we outsource for everything. Why pay an American union worker $15+ per hour when you can pay a foreigner $.50 per hour to build the same part?

[Bradlybob]

Ah, but in a few years the Chinese will be fat and lazy too. Just give 'em a few more years of McD's and Walmart and they'll be sitting around on sunday eating pork rinds :pig: and watching TV like the rest of us civilized people.:eeks1:

[rocklandxjer]

We are a nation of lazy people. That fact can't be denied. We are also cheap...which is why we outsource for everything. Why pay an American union worker $15+ per hour when you can pay a foreigner $.50 per hour to build the same part?
i dont agree. we are a nation run by computers. we are not so much lazy as we are productive. some analysts somewhere saw that by using computers and outsourcing, not only could we save money, but we could make/do multiple times more things done per day than the old way.

just because we dont use hard labor to make products HERE does not mean we are lazy, it means we found a better, more efficient way of doing so.

[DaJudge]

RESET hit the point by stating he is a non-UAW automotive worker. That is the true key. The UAW and most other unions lost their focus about 60 years ago. The president of the UAW makes 5 million a year, do you think he really gives a sh@# whether he betters anyones position but his? People as a whole are lazy, if they aren't held accountable for their work they don't care. No motivation means poor work habits.

I grew up in Detroit and I know first hand how stupid the unions have been for the last 30 years. Why do you think most of the foreign manufacturers who have plants here have built them in right-to-work states? That's my RANT!

Glen

[bjoehandley]

We are a nation of lazy people. That fact can't be denied. We are also cheap...which is why we outsource for everything. Why pay an American union worker $15+ per hour when you can pay a foreigner $.50 per hour to build the same part?


But then why does it seem that half that stuff isn't cheaper once it hits the shelves than what it was when made here in the states.

[Fergie]

JeffU R Retarded.

All the fat fawks UAW don't deserve the wages they make. Why should we, as a country, reward complacency and over-specialization. Nothing says lovin' like pigeon hole-ing yourself.

It isnt about made in America, it is about finding a good balance between cost, and quality.

Until the American mentality regarding Captalism is changed, so that profit is not the bottom line, nothing will change.

Shift the paradigm.

Fergie

PS- Anyone want over unders on how long until Captain Ron chimes in with some of his knowledge and cryptic statements?

[johnlv6]

But then why does it seem that half that stuff isn't cheaper once it hits the shelves than what it was when made here in the states.

Why the fawk are the greedy corporations that outsource and move jobs overseas going to pass their savings on to you?

When an item is assembled by someone making less than 1/10 of the salary of a domestic worker (ex. Any clothing manufacturer and VW), it's costing less to produce....they wouldn't be moving production overseas if it wasn't.

[johnlv6]

i dont agree. we are a nation run by computers. we are not so much lazy as we are productive. some analysts somewhere saw that by using computers and outsourcing, not only could we save money, but we could make/do multiple times more things done per day than the old way.

just because we dont use hard labor to make products HERE does not mean we are lazy, it means we found a better, more efficient way of doing so.


I'm not going spend my time linking to web sites confirming that the average American waist line has expanded and there are less engineering/technical degrees given in the U.S. than foreign countries. The average student educated these days in public schools is less advanced in comparison to their foreign counterparts (that could also be proven by a five minute web search)...that's probably explained by the fact that the average American kid spends more time infront of a TV/xbox than a textbook.

[Kittrell]

I'm not going spend my time linking to web sites confirming that the average American waist line has expanded and there are less engineering/technical degrees given in the U.S. than foreign countries. The average student educated these days in public schools is less advanced in comparison to their foreign counterparts (that could also be proven by a five minute web search)...that's probably explained by the fact that the average American kid spends more time infront of a TV/xbox than a textbook.

But then you get into "higher education" costs in the US versus overseas, and thats a whole nother can of worms............;)

Tuition costs keep going up, and quality of education keeps going down. Half of my professors barely spoke english. Lets put an individual with a heavy Moroccan accent, in charge of a Comprehensive Literature class.............http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v690/Jeep1991/Smilies/thidea.gif

[SS01XJ]

http://www.howtobuyamerican.com

[xjj33p3r]

WHITE POWER!

Dude, did you know that your jeep came FROM THE FACTORY with parts "Hecho in Mexico"? It's not their fault that they were contracted to build parts for your jeep.

[rocklandxjer]

I'm not going spend my time linking to web sites confirming that the average American waist line has expanded and there are less engineering/technical degrees given in the U.S. than foreign countries. The average student educated these days in public schools is less advanced in comparison to their foreign counterparts (that could also be proven by a five minute web search)...that's probably explained by the fact that the average American kid spends more time infront of a TV/xbox than a textbook.

Please don't be more ignorant than a 17 year old...

The reason why an AVERAGE US student is less advanced is because we have no child left behind laws. we believe that every student deserves a chance to be educated.

In countries like China, Japan, and India, they have specialized schooling systems wherein they weed out the less "advanced" students early on to go to vocational schools, thus not counting in the national percentage. they constantly weed out slower students until they are the best and brightest, leaving millions un educated and unable to find a better job than say... american car parts maker...

Also, who do you think gets all of the engineers there buddy. do you think a straight-out-of college indian engineer is going to stay in india to make 5 bucks an hour, or is he going to come to america to make upwards of $70,000 a year? They may put a lot of them out, but they dont stay there, think of how many rocket scientists there are in this country teaching at the collegeate (sp?) level, how many of them are either german or indian...

[muledriver]

Finding US made parts is almost imposible. WE have become a service based country. we have jobs selling, servicing, delivering, and instaling primarilly goods that have been manufactured by other countries, to each other. Most of these products you cant even repair by design. If you look back historically at almost all of the products that we use, started off as an American invention. with labor costs, environmental constraints and Osha regulations we have forced or even encuraged the large companies to look for other more "friendly" work enviromnents. As an employer myself I am amazed at the number of 35 year old college grades who are living at home with mom doing their laundry. WE have a young "jack Ass" society who applauds the slacker and then bitches when they call for tech support for their computer game and a person in india answers the phone. As a 38 year old gulf war vet who has been in 13 countries I can tell you. if you think its better somewhere else, go. You are in for a rude wake up call. One of you had a trailer that ask what would Lincoln do?
He would look around and go ah F*ck!!:flame:

michael

[johnlv6]

Please don't be more ignorant than a 17 year old...

The reason why an AVERAGE US student is less advanced is because we have no child left behind laws. we believe that every student deserves a chance to be educated.


The world needs ditchdiggers....we'll figure that out eventually.

[Blaine B.]

I'm all about American products, but they are hard to find. I'm not going to spend extra time searching for American parts when I need something replaced RIGHT NOW. As long as it works, lasts, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg, I'm happy.

[Root Moose]

It's ironic, I have no such problems (look at location on my post header).

When I go to the parts store I usually have two or three choices:

1.) Chinese junk

2.) mid grade stuff - could be manufactured in Canada or USA or not - sometimes even Chinese. Regardless, quality is there.

3.) "high end" stuff. Typically manufactured in North America or the country of origin of the car (German cars getting German parts, Japanese to Japanese, Canadian built Hondas/Toyotas/Suzuki/etc. get Canadian parts, etc.)

I usually stick with "AC Delco" type brands. They bounce around level two or three above. Depends on what the price point is on the part. I priced rear calipers and rotors for the rear axle I'm building back in the summer. IIRC the rotor could be either $12, $27 or $55. Based on that I got Delco at $27. The $12 part was Chinese junk. $55 was for SGP (Suzuki Genuine Parts).

That said, some of the "Chinese junk" is quite good. But some of it is really bad. I don't like rolling the dice with my free time so I normally don't buy Chinese Junk unless word of mouth from other gearheads tells me otherwise.